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Joe Barton News

09 Oct 2015

House Passes Bill to Repeal US Oil Export Ban, Veto Looms

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday to overturn the 40-year-old ban on oil exports, but the measure did not get enough support to overturn any veto by President Barack Obama, and similar legislation in the Senate faces an uphill battle.   The House bill sponsored by Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, passed the House 261 to 159, failing to reach the 280 votes necessary to overturn a presidential veto. The White House this week threatened to veto the House bill, saying Congress should work to move the country to cleaner sources of energy. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

09 Oct 2015

House Expected to Pass Bill Axing US Oil Export Ban

A bill to repeal the U.S. oil export ban was expected to pass the House of Representatives on Friday, but faces an uncertain future after a veto threat by President Barack Obama. U.S. representatives on Friday morning debated the bill, sponsored by Joe Barton a Republican of Texas, and were slated to vote on it later in the day. Oil policy analyst Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners expected the bill to pass the Republican-led House, but said it was unlikely to win the 290 votes necessary to override a White House veto. Congress passed the ban in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo caused snaking lines at gas stations and fears of global oil shortages. "Much has changed since the ban on crude was put in place," Representative Fred Upton, a Republican of Michigan, said before the vote.

10 Sep 2015

US House Panel Passes Bill to Repeal Oil Export Ban

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee passed a bill on Thursday to repeal the U.S. ban on oil exports, providing momentum in the chamber for overturning the 40-year old trade restriction. The House Energy and Power subcommittee passed the bill by a voice count. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas, is expected to be voted on by the full Energy and Commerce committee next week. Passage by the full panel would set it up for a wider vote by the Republican-led House, where it is expected to pass. The measure, however, still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate. Barton said the energy landscape has changed since 1975 and repealing the ban would provide jobs and help allies diversify their oil supplies.

09 Jul 2015

US Crude Export Would Help Europe -Czech Republic

Lifting the U.S. ban on oil exports would bolster energy security in Europe by allowing countries to find alternative sources, the Czech Republic ambassador to the United States told lawmakers considering a bill to do away with the trade restriction. "The larger the number of stable democracies among the world's exporters, the more robust the energy security of the Czech Republic and the European Union will be," Petr Gandalovic, the ambassador told the panel the House subcommittee on Energy and Power on Thursday. The country has worked to reduce its dependence on oil and gas from Russia, the top energy supplier to many Eastern European countries. A recently built oil pipeline connects the Czech Republic to the Italian port of Trieste via Germany.

30 Apr 2015

Push to Axe US Crude Export Ban Strengthens in House

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives who are trying to end the decades-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports said on Thursday they were gaining support after a Democrat joined the Republican-led effort. Representative Henry Cuellar became the first Democrat to sign on to a bill launched in February by Representative Joe Barton, a Republican and fellow Texan. "If we are able to lift the crude oil ban this is going to open up new markets where Texas businesses can create more jobs at home," said Cuellar, whose district includes the oilfields of Eagle Ford, where much of the U.S. boom in light sweet crude has been taking place over the last half decade.

11 Dec 2014

US Lawmakers Give Preview of Oil Export Fight

U.S. lawmakers gave a preview on Thursday of a looming fight next year on lifting the ban on crude exports with supporters saying it would sustain the drilling boom and others questioning its impacts on industry and fuel prices. In a House of Representatives hearing on the ban, Texas Republican Joe Barton said exporting oil would boost the economy, lower gas prices, and help give allies alternative oil supplies to Russia. By some measures the United States is the world's top oil producer and Barton said the country should use that power. "When you're number one, you use that status," said Barton, who introduced a short, 1.5 page bill this week to lift the ban Congress passed in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo. The U.S.

09 Dec 2014

Congressman Introduces Bill Lifting Oil Export Ban

U.S. Representative Joe Barton (Credit: U.S. House Office)

U.S. Representative Joe Barton will introduce a bill on Tuesday to lift the 40-year ban on exports of crude oil, but the measure has almost no chance of passing due to lawmaker concerns about fuel prices and costs to refiners. Barton, a Republican from Texas, will introduce a bill to lift the export ban Congress passed in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo led to fears of fuel shortages, an aide said. The lawmaker will introduce the measure ahead of a hearing later this week…

25 Nov 2014

US House to Hold Hearing on Oil Export Ban

Photo: U.S. House of Representatitves

A House of Representatives panel will hold a hearing on Dec. 11 to explore whether a decades-old law that prohibits the export of crude oil makes sense in an era of domestic energy abundance. The House subcommittee on energy and power, chaired by Representative Ed Whitfield, will hone in on the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, drafted in response to the 1973 oil crisis. The law prohibited the export of most crude oil, created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules for cars and trucks, also known as CAFE standards.

18 Sep 2014

Senator Says 2015 Could Be Time for US Oil Export Bill

The top supporter in the U.S. Congress for reversing the 40-year ban on crude oil exports, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, said next year could be the time for a bill on lifting the restriction. "I think it may be timely then," Senator Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, told reporters on Thursday when asked if next year would be a good time for legislation. Lawmakers have avoided introducing a measure to lift the ban ahead of the Nov. 4 midterm elections amid concern that exporting oil could lead to higher gasoline prices. But the fuel prices are based on global markets and several recent studies from the Brookings Institute and other groups have shown that fuel prices would actually fall.

04 Sep 2014

U.S. Refiners Want Condensate Exports Halted

A lobbyist group for four U.S. oil refiners urged the federal government on Thursday to stop issuing approvals for energy companies to ship abroad a lightly processed crude oil, saying it is prohibited by a nearly 40-year-old ban on oil exports. Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy (CRUDE), wrote to Commerce Department officials five months after the department's Bureau of Industry and Security gave approval to Pioneer Natural Resources and Enterprise Product Partners to export certain condensates. CRUDE, whose members include Alon USA Energy Inc and PBF Energy Inc, formed this year with the goal of preventing a hasty reversal of the export ban at a time sharply rising oil production has spurred calls for a change.

02 Sep 2014

Joe Barton: Lift Oil Export Ban

A senior U.S. Congressman from Texas has come out in full support of the United States lifting the 40-year old ban on crude oil exports, putting him at odds with fellow House Republicans wary of weighing in on the controversial issue. Rep. Joe Barton, who until now has maintained a relatively neutral public stance on a topic that has divided Republican members of the House energy and commerce committee, told Reuters in a statement that the time was right for the United States to overhaul its long-standing restrictions on exporting crude oil. "The shale revolution has changed the energy landscape in our country. It is time to change our laws to match this new reality…

08 Nov 2000

Editor's Note

Uncontrollable external forces driving commercial development is the hallmark of any industry. However, the last three years serve as a prime example of how such forces can significantly affect the maritime realm. When the reality of an Asian financial collapse hit in late 1997 and the price per barrel of oil eventually dove to $10, the thought of a $30+ barrel by 2000 seemed ludicrous. But, just as world political and market forces help to drag markets down, they inevitably turn and help to push them up again. Today’s reality is a low to mid-$30 per barrel of oil, as tensions in the Middle East, OPEC and low product stocks continue to buoy the barrel. With concerns of an energy crisis in the U.S.

20 Oct 2000

Lawmaker Calls For Suspension Of Jones Act For Tankers

Texas Republican lawmaker Joe Barton, chairman of the House Commerce Energy Subcommittee, said he wants a 90-day suspension of rules that do not allow foreign tankers to move crude between domestic ports. The rules, contained in the Jones Act, need to be altered in order to better supply Northeast heating oil markets this winter, he said. Barton's legislation would let President Clinton choose two domestic ports in the United States for foreign-flagged tankers to transport crude oil and products. The Jones Act mandates that any oil shipping between U.S. ports be carried-off by only U.S.-flagged tankers. But concerns about getting much-needed supplies to the nation's heating oil belt in the Northeast preclude the requirements…

26 Oct 2000

Jones Act Waiver Not Likely

Efforts by U.S. officials and oil firms to waive Jones Act shipping requirements and increase available oil tankers to the Northeast are so far dead in the water, the U.S. Department of Transportation said. "No one has made a credible case in the Executive branch or Congress to grant waivers or eviscerate the Jones Act," John Graykowski, acting administrator of the Maritime Administration told Reuters. The Jones Act -- which is overseen by the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration department -- requires crude oil and refined products to sail in U.S. flagged ships when in U.S. waters. Amid tight tanker availabilities, oil firms have claimed difficulty in finding ships to transport oil released during October and November from the U.S.

25 Oct 2006

Congress Offshore Drilling Bill Dims

According to Reuters, the U.S. House of Representatives will not accept legislation passed by the Senate that keeps most U.S. Atlantic and Pacific waters off-limits to energy exploration, a key U.S. Republican lawmaker. Comments by Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, chairman of the House Energy Committee, indicate dimming prospects that the energy legislation will pass Congress this year. House Republicans will not concede to Senate lawmakers' calls to accept an offshore drilling bill that expands energy exploration only narrowly, he said. Barton's comments to reporters at the Independent Petroleum Association of America's annual meeting signal tough going for offshore drilling legislation once Congress returns for a short voting session after the Nov. 7 mid-term elections.